JustJobs Network (JJN) Annual Conference 2015: "Squaring Higher Wages and Competitiveness"

The JustJobs Network - which the FES office in Washington, DC is part of - convened a two-day conference, co-hosted with the International Monetary Fund, on wages and their relationship to competitiveness, trade and inequality.

The conference preceded the joint meeting of the Group of 20 Finance and Labor Ministers. At the conference, JJN released its annual report "Global Wage Debates: Politics or Economics," presenting evidence that higher wages are a social and economic imperative that will benefit the private sector as well as governments and workers. Additionally, the report was discussed during a special luncheon with German Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Andrea Nahles.

"Creating just jobs for everyone is an important benchmark for my work as Labor Minister. That’s because I firmly believe that just jobs give people dignity and self-esteem. All human beings deserve just jobs – a job that is appreciated, also in financial terms," Andrea Nahles said at the luncheon.